Chief Engineer

The Hotel Chief Engineer keeps the property running. Every system guests rely on — room temperature, hot water, lighting, elevators, internet, fire alarms — is the Chief Engineer's responsibility. When those systems work, guests never think about them. When they fail, the Chief Engineer's phone rings.

The role has two faces. One is reactive: the backed-up shower in 318, the malfunctioning HVAC in the third-floor meeting room 40 minutes before a corporate event, the elevator outage that trapped guests during a Saturday check-in rush. These situations require fast diagnosis, a clear plan, and the ability to communicate timelines to guests and management without promising what can't be delivered. Get Executive Coaching

The other face is preventive: the planned maintenance program that catches problems before they become failures. A Chief Engineer who spends time on preventive maintenance — scheduling belt replacements before belts break, testing fire suppression systems before an inspection uncovers failures, replacing aging water heater elements before a hotel runs out of hot water during a full-house weekend — spends far less time on the reactive side. The ratio of planned versus reactive maintenance is one of the best indicators of how well-run an engineering department is.

Budget management is a significant responsibility. Maintenance budgets have both operating and capital components — day-to-day supplies and contracted services on the operating side, equipment replacement and major system upgrades on the capital side. Chief Engineers who can prioritize capital spending accurately, defend their requests to ownership with useful technical context, and manage operating costs without deferring maintenance that will cost more later are the ones who build trust with management and ownership.

Duties and responsibilities

* Manage and direct engineering and maintenance staff, including scheduling, training, and performance evaluation

* Develop and oversee the preventive maintenance (PM) program for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, elevators, pools, and other hotel systems

* Respond to and prioritize maintenance requests from guest rooms, public areas, and back-of-house spaces

* Control the engineering department's operating budget and submit capital expenditure requests for equipment replacement and major repairs

* Ensure compliance with local building codes, fire safety regulations, OSHA standards, and brand engineering requirements

* Manage contractor relationships for specialized work — elevators, fire suppression, chillers, laundry equipment — and oversee their on-property work

* Conduct regular inspections of hotel mechanical systems, guest rooms, and exterior to identify deficiencies before they become failures

* Maintain accurate maintenance records, equipment logs, and regulatory inspection documentation

* Coordinate with the General Manager and ownership on capital improvement projects, providing technical input and project oversight

* Respond to after-hours emergencies — HVAC failures, water leaks, power issues — and manage repairs to minimize guest impact

Experience:

* 5–10 years of hotel or commercial building maintenance experience

* At least 2–3 years in a supervisory role within maintenance or engineering

* Capital project coordination experience is increasingly expected at full-service properties

Pay: AED15,000.00 - AED17,000.00 per month

Work Location: In person